Design FINAL Project -- Spells & Suits

Spells & Suits is a game board made from laser-cut materials and 3D-printed components. 4 Players compete to see who can cast all their spell first while simultaneously damaging opponents.

Key Features:

1. Cauldron Button: A button with an LED that flashes 1-3 times.
2. Player Boards: Boards with tracks for Health, Power, Hunger, and Mind.
3. Suit Tokens: Track progress on the spell paths.
4. Deck of Cards: Adds points or attacks opponent's progress.

Setup:

1. Place the cauldron in the center with the button.
2. Give each player: A board and four tokens from each different suit.
3. Shuffle the cards and place them face down.
4. Put all tokens at the bottom (1 point) of their tracks.

Gameplay

Each turn, follow these steps:

1. Press the Button
2. The LED flashes 1, 2, or 3 times at random, showing how many points you move your tokens of choice.
3. You can allocate points you get from the button anywhere on your board.
4. Example: 3 flashes = 3 points to one track or 1 point each to three tracks.
5. Draw a Card
6. Use the card to:
7. Each card counts as one point: Add 1 point to the track matching the suit:
8. Hearts = Health
9. Diamonds = Power
10. Spades = Hunger
11. Clubs = Mind
12. Attack Another Player: Subtract 1 point from an opponent’s matching track.

A section of the gameboard is CNC laser cut and some of the components will need to be 3D printed for this game. A CNC laser cut machine and 3D printer are needed for this project. You will have to use CAD software (Onshape) to create game pieces and download PrusaSlicer to print them. The cauldron button will have to be coded in Arduino as well.

Machines/Devices Used:

1. 3D Printer
2. CNC Machine
3. Laptop
4. Table Saw

Supplies Used:

1. Board of Wood (big enough to cut 4 squares that are 7 x 9 inches)
2. PLA Filament
3. 1 x Hot Glue Gun
4. 1 x Black Sharpie
5. 1 x Deck of Cards
6. 1 x Arduino Board
7. 1 x Breadboard
8. 1 x LED Light
9. 1 x button
10. 2 x 220ohm resistors
11. 2 x black M-M wires (these are for ground)
12. 2 x red M-M wires (these are for power)
13. 1 x blue M-M wire (any color will do, except red or black in this case)
14. 1 x orange M-M wire (any color will do, except red or black in this case)

To create the game tokens, begin by designing them in OnShape. Sketch the basic shapes of the tokens (spade, club, diamond, and heart). Extrude the design and export the designs as STL files and print using PrusaSlicer. 

Load the STL files into the 3D printer and start the printing process, print 16 for all four game boards. Always remember to monitor and keep checking the printer to make sure everything runs smoothly throughout.

Link to Onshape File

The player boards are important components of the game, giving spaces for tracking progress along the spell tracks. 

Start by measuring and marking the wooden slab, ours was originally 25 in x 18 in. Saw it into four smaller sections, each 9 in x 7.5 in. Once the boards are cut, round the corners and edges using sandpaper or a belt sander for a smoother finish. Repeat for all four boards.

First, create the engraving design in Onshape, including the circle tracks, with numbers 1-5 for each circle, and a star symbol to indicate the end of the track. Export the design from Onshape and then import it into Inkscape to prepare the file. We then saved the design as an SVG file, and made sure it met the laser cutter’s requirements.

Then, transfer the SVG file to the laser cutter’s software. Laser cutting can be difficult and the printer may have requirements which you may not think of, so there will be a lot of troubleshooting involved.

Each board takes approximately 30-40 minutes to engrave. After engraving, if there is any burnt wood/soot, it can be brushed off. The laser printer involves burning the actual wood so it is very likely that there will be soot or the engraved area will be slightly sticky due to the sap. 

The cauldron is a decorative stand designed to hold the Arduino and the breadboard.

First, design the cauldron in CAD software using the revolve tool to create a symmetrical, rounded shape resembling a magical cauldron. Once the design is complete, export it as an STL file and 3D print it. Make sure there are supports all around since the cauldron is standing on smaller legs. Troubleshooting may be required during the printing so make sure to watch over the print.

We then created an extra smaller stand for the breadboard to sit on, but this is optional.

Intro: The Arduino is the main component of our game. We use it to click the button for our LED to blink 1-3 times so that the player can move the piece on their board. 

Components:

1. Arduino UNO
2. A breadboard 
3. 2 220 ohm resisters 
4. A button 
5. A LED 
6. 2 black Male to Male wire (ground)
7. 2 red Male to Male wires (power)
8. 2 more Male to Male wires don't matter the color  

Make a Tinkercad version of the circuit you want to make. In this case, it's an Arduino with a button that you click and it blinks 1, 2, or 3 times randomly. To make the circuit I took inspiration from an assignment we did in advanced mechatronics called Additional Tinkercad practice and that helped me build the circuit first without having the code. The reason you make a Tinkercad first is to test if your circuit would work if you made it in real life.

Then, make the code so that the circuit works. I first started with code that initiated communication between the code and the Arduino and then made an input and outline of code for the 2 and 8-pin so that the button would work on the Arduino and the LED would be red. After that code, you put a Loop code so that whatever you wanted to execute, you could do it more than one time. Make a random number generator for the Arduino and have it generate 1-4 times. Because the code is different, it starts with 0 so I made it 1-4 so it can only blink up to 3 times. Then I put a code that when I upload my code to Arduino IDE and I press the button it tells me what the random number it generated. Lastly, I made a for loop telling the code if I press the button the LED turns on and if no one touches the button then the LED stays off. 

Lastly, build the physical circuit. To build the circuit I just looked at my Tinkercad and followed the steps. Every wire, resistor, button, and LED I put in the exact spot it was in on the Tinkercad. After building it, connect it to your computer and upload the code and it should execute exactly the way you want it to.  

For the game board assembly, the 3D printed symbols were hot glued to the wooden board at the bottom. With a sharpie each name spell for each symbol was then written down.